ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Prime Minister's Office
PM launches development projects in Kanyakumari
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today flagged off the Tejas Express between Madurai and Chennai. At a large public function in Kanyakumari, he also laid the Foundation Stone for the restoration of rail connectivity between Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi, and the restoration of the Pamban bridge. The Prime Minister inaugurated some road projects as well.
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said that every Indian is proud that the brave Wing Commander Abhinandan belongs to Tamil Nadu.
He also congratulated the Vivekananda Kendra on being conferred the Gandhi Peace Prize a few days ago.
He said the Tejas Express is one of the most modern trains and is a great example of ‘Make in India.’
He said that the Rameswaram-Dhanushkodi rail line got damaged after the disaster of 1964 but for over fifty years, no attention was paid to this line. Better late than never, he added.
The Prime Minister said as part of the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, over 1.1 crore farmers have already got their first instalment in their bank accounts. He said a scheme announced on 1st February has become a reality in the same month itself. We worked 24 hours non-stop to ensure the scheme is rolled out in 24 days, he added. He said in ten years, about 7.5 lakh crore rupees would have been received by hard-working farmers.
The Prime Minister said that people want honesty, development, progress, opportunities and security from the Government.
Talking about defence and security, the Prime Minister said that India has been facing the menace of terrorism for years. He said that the big difference now is that India will no longer be helpless in the wake of terror. He said that this is a New India that will return the damage done by terrorists with interest. In matters of defence and national security, we are Indians first and Indians only, the Prime Minister asserted.
The Prime Minister also elaborated upon the steps taken by the Union Government against corruption.
Ministry of Home Affairs
COMPULSORY EDUCATION OF PRISONERS
National Crime Records Bureau  compiles prison statistics reported to it by States and Union Territories  and publishes the same in its annual publication “Prison Statistics India”.
‘Prisons’ and ‘persons detained therein’ are State subjects as per Entry 4 of List II of Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. Administration and management of prisoners is the responsibility of State Governments, who are competent to take appropriate steps for welfare of prison inmates. However, the Ministry of Home Affairs  has been supplementing the efforts of State Governments by issuing various advisories from time to time. MHA has advised the States to establish special study centres in prisons and organize workshops to popularise educational programmes offered by National Open School, Distance Education Board and Indira Gandhi National Open University , etc. for education of inmates.
A comprehensive Model Prison Manual 2016 was also forwarded to all States and UTs in May, 2016. The Manual has a dedicated chapter on ‘Education of Prisoners’, which provides that at the time of admission in the prison, prisoners should be classified on the basis of their academic/educational qualifications and their aptitude for further learning. It has been emphasised that education is vital for the overall development of prisoners and that education of illiterate young offenders and adult prisoners shall be compulsory.
This was stated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Ajay Kumar Mishra in a written reply to question in the Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Home Affairs
FRAUDS BY CYBER CRIMINALS
On the question on ‘Frauds by Cyber Criminals’ in Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Ajay Kumar Mishra stated the following in a written reply today.
With enhanced use of cyber space, number of cyber crimes including cyber fraud is also increasing. The National Crime Records Bureau  compiles and publishes the statistical data on crimes in its publication “Crime in India”. The latest published report is for the year 2021. NCRB does not maintain specific data relating to cases of frauds through fake websites.
'Police' and 'Public Order' are State subjects as per the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. States/UTs are primarily responsible for deployment of adequate infrastructure facilities, state-of-art technology gadgets, manpower and training of police personnel to combat the cyber crime menace. The Central Government supplements the initiatives of the State Governments through advisories and schemes for the capacity building of their Law Enforcement Agencies .
To strengthen the mechanism to deal with cyber crimes including cyber fraud in a comprehensive and coordinated manner, the Central Government has taken steps for spreading awareness about cyber crimes, issuance of alerts/ advisories, capacity building/training of law enforcement personnel/ prosecutors/judicial officers, improving cyber forensic facilities, etc. The Government has established the ‘Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre’  to provide a framework and eco-system for LEAs to deal with cyber crimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.
The Government has launched the ‘National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal’  to enable the public to report all types of cyber crimes, with special focus on cyber crimes against women and children. Cyber crime incidents reported on this portal are routed automatically to the respective State/UT law enforcement agency for further handling as per the provisions of law. The ‘Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System’ has been launched for immediate reporting of financial frauds and to stop siphoning off fund by the fraudsters. A toll-free Helpline number ‘1930’ has been operationalized to get assistance in lodging online cyber complaints. So far, financial fraud transactions amounting to more than Rs. 235 Crore have been saved.
Special Service and Features
Constable  in CAPFs, NIA, SSF and Rifleman  in Assam Rifles Examination, 2021
Staff Selection Commission will be conducting Constable  in CAPFs, NIA, SSF and Rifleman  in Assam Rifles Examination, 2021.
In Southern Region, 4,38,161 candidates have been admitted for the examination. The Examination will be conducted in 3 shifts in a day for 21 days starting from 16-11-2021 to 15-12-2022 in 26 Venues at 20 Centers/Cities viz. Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem, Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelveli & Vellore in Tamil Nadu, Chirala, Guntur, Kakinada, Kurnool, Nellore, Rajahmundry, Tirupati, Vijayawada, Vishakhapatnam & Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh and Hyderabad, Karimnagar & Warangal in Telangana.
There will be 3 Shifts in a day - 1st Shift from 09:00 AM to 10:30 AM, 2nd Shift from 12:30 Noon to 02 :00 PM and 3rd Shift from 04.00 PM to 05.30 PM.
Facility to download e-Admission Certificates will be provided in SSC website in such a way that candidates can download the same only 4 days before their actual date of examination and all the subsequent days till their date of examination. These details are also intimated to the candidates through SMS to their mobile numbers and e-mail to their mail IDs as provided by them in their Online Applications.
Candidates are, strictly advised not to bring prohibited items and bags into the Examination Venue. Candidates are further requested to note that they shall not be permitted to attend the examination without e-Admission Certificate and Original Valid Identity Proof enumerated in the Instructions attached with e-Admission Certificate.
All candidates are, therefore, requested to download their e-Admission Certificate without fail. For further queries/clarifications, candidates may contact Southern Regional Office Helpline Numbers .
The Commission has taken necessary precautions in view of COVID-19 and the candidates are requested to follow the instructions given in e-Admission Certificate regarding COVID-19 scrupulously for safe and smooth conduct of Examination.
This is stated in a press release issued by Joint Secretary & Regional Director, Staff Selection Commission .
President's Secretariat
President of India to Visit Chandigarh from October 8 to 9
The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu, will visit Chandigarh from October 8 to 9, 2022.
On October 8, 2022, the President will grace the 90th anniversary of Indian Air Force at Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh. In the same evening, she will also attend a civic reception to be hosted in her honour at Punjab Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh.
On October 9, 2022, the President will inaugurate the newly constructed building of UT Chandigarh Secretariat. She will also grace the 52nd convocation and closing ceremony of centenary year celebrations of Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh, before returning to Delhi.
Ministry of Defence
DRDO successfully flight-tests Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet technology off Odisha coast
Defence Research and Development Organisation  successfully flight tested Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet  booster at the Integrated Test Range , Chandipur off the coast of Odisha on April 08, 2022. The test successfully demonstrated the reliable functioning of all critical components involved in the complex missile system and met all the mission objectives.
The SFDR-based propulsion enables the missile to intercept aerial threats at very long range at supersonic speeds. The performance of the system has been confirmed from the data captured by a number of range instruments like Telemetry, Radar and Electro Optical Tracking Systems deployed by ITR. The SFDR has been developed by Defence Research and Development Laboratory, Hyderabad in collaboration with other DRDO laboratories such as Research Centre Imarat, Hyderabad and High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, Pune.
Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh has congratulated DRDO for the successful trial of SFDR. He termed it as an important milestone towards development of critical missile technologies in the country. Complimenting the teams involved in design, development and testing, Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy said, with the successful trial of SFDR, the range of air-to-air missiles can be enhanced.
SR/Savvy
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Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers
Bulk Drug Park in the country
Department of Pharmaceuticals implements the Scheme for Promotion of Bulk Drug Parks to facilitate setting up of Three  Bulk Drug Parks in the country with the objective to bring down the cost of manufacturing of bulk drugs by creation of world class common infrastructure facilities.
The financial assistance by the centre is subject to a maximum limit of Rs.1000 Crore per park or 70% of the project cost of CIF , whichever is less. The total financial outlay of the scheme is Rs. 3000 crore and the tenure of the Scheme is from 2020-21 to 2024-25. The proposals received from the States under the scheme are under evaluation.
Under the scheme, financial assistance would be provided for creation of Common Infrastructure Facilities  like  Central Effluent Treatment Plant   Solid waste management  Storm water drains network  Common Solvent Storage System, Solvent recovery and distillation plant  Common Warehouse  Dedicated power sub-station and distribution system with the necessary transformers at factory gate  Raw, Potable and Demineralized Water  Steam generation and distribution system  Common cooling system and distribution network  Common logistics  Advanced laboratory testing Centre, suitable for even complex testing/ research needs of APIs, including microbiology laboratory and stability chambers  Emergency Response Centre  Safety/ Hazardous operations audits centre and  Centre of Excellence etc. in any upcoming Bulk Drug Park promoted by State Government/State Corporation.
The common infrastructure facilities created under the scheme will help reduce the manufacturing cost of bulk drugs and also enhance the competitiveness of the domestic industry.
This information was given by Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Shri Bhagwanth Khuba in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
Prime Minister's Office
PM to distribute Krishi Karman Awards
PM to release 3rd installment of Rs 2000 to 6 crore beneficiaries under PM KISAN
The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will distribute Krishi Karman Awards and Commendation Awards to states at a public meeting in Tumkur Karnataka on Thursday, 2.1.2020. He will also give away Agriculture Minister’s Krishi Karman Awards for Progressive Farmers.
The event will also witness the release of the 3rd installment of PM Kisan  of Rs 2000 for the period December 2019-March 2020. This will benefit approximately 6 crore beneficiaries. Prime Minister will also hand over Certificates to beneficiaries under PM Kisan from 8 States/UTs.
At the same event, Prime Minister will also handover the Keys of Deep Sea fishing Vessels and Fishing Vessel Transponders to select farmers of Tamil Nadu.
He will also distribute Kisan Credit Cards  to select farmers of Karnataka.
The Prime Minister will visit an Exhibition at the venue, and address the gathering.
Department of Space
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh informs that NASA and ISRO have jointly manufactured an earth science satellite named, NISAR  at a cost of about Rs 470 crore
Mission objectives of the satellite are- Design, Develop and launch Dual Frequency  Radar Imaging Satellite and to Explore newer applications areas using L & S Band microwave data especially in surface deformation studies, terrestrial biomass structure, natural resource mapping etc.: Dr Jitendra Singh
Union Minister of State  Science & Technology; Minister of State  Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh today informed the Rajya Sabha that National Aeronautics and Space Administration  and the Indian Space Research Organization  have jointly manufactured an earth science satellite named, NISAR .
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the mission objectives of the satellite are- Design, Develop and launch Dual Frequency  Radar Imaging Satellite and to Explore newer applications areas using L & S Band microwave data especially in surface deformation studies, terrestrial biomass structure, natural resource mapping and monitoring and studies related to dynamics of ice-sheets, glaciers, forests, oil slick etc.
The Minister said, the satellite is configured with I-3K bus and the instrument identified for SAR is based on the innovative Sweep SAR technique configured in both L and S band in polarimetric configuration for wide swath and high resolution.
The spacecraft will orbit the Earth in a sun synchronous orbit of 747 Km with an inclination of 98.4 degree for a 12-day repeat cycle.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, while NASA is delivering the L-Band SAR payload, high precision GPS and 12m unfurlable antenna, ISRO is delivering S-band SAR payload, spacecraft bus and facilitating launch. The total expenditure incurred on realization of NISAR satellite by ISRO as on February, 2023 is Rs. 469.40 Crore, excluding launch cost.
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SNC/SM
(Visitor Counter : 2211
Cabinet
Cabinet approves MoU between India and the UAE on Development cooperation in Africa
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the Memorandum of Understanding  between India and the United Arab Emirates on Development Cooperation in Africa. The MoU entails setting up of a framework of cooperation between the two countries for implementing development partnership projects and programmes in Africa.
Benefits:
The proposal will help strengthen political and economic linkages between India and the countries of Africa and serve our broader strategic interests.
AKT/SNC/SH
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Ministry of Coal
Coal Import by Power Sector Decreased to 22.73 Million Ton During April 2021-January 2022
The details of coal imported by coal based power plants during the last five years and current year is given below:-

|
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Year
|
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Imported coal based power plants
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Blended coal based power plants
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Total coal import by Power Plants
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2016-17
|
|
46.30
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|
19.87
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|
66.17
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|
2017-18
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39.37
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|
17.04
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56.41
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|
2018-19
|
|
40.29
|
|
21.37
|
|
61.66
|
|
2019-20
|
|
45.47
|
|
23.75
|
|
69.22
|
|
2020-21
|
|
35.08
|
|
10.39
|
|
45.47
|
|
2021-22 Upto Jan.22
|
|
16.08
|
|
6.65
|
|
22.73
Due to increased availability of coal on account of policy measures taken to increase domestic coal production, total coal import declined from 248.54 MT in 2019-20 to 215.25 MT in 2020-21. Further, during April 2021-January 2022, coal import has further decreased to the level of 173.32 MT as compared to 180.56 MT during the corresponding period of previous year.
Coal import by Power sector declined from 69.22 MT in 2019-20 to 45.47 MT in 2020-21. Further, during April 2021-January 2022, coal import by Power Sector has decreased to the level of 22.73 MT as compared to 39.01 MT during the corresponding period of previous year.
The share of coal supply by CIL, which was around 60.8% of total consumption of coal in 2019-20, increased to 63.3% in 2020-21 and further to 64.3% in 2021-22 .
An Inter-Ministerial Committee  has been constituted in the Ministry of Coal for the purposed of coal import substitution. The representatives from Ministry of Power, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Shipping, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Steel, Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises , Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade , Central Electricity Authority , coal companies and Ports are members of this IMC. This Committee provides a platform for discussions on a larger forum with the Administrative Ministries so as to guide them to encourage the coal consumers of their respective sector to eliminate imports of coal. On the directions of the IMC, an Import Data System has been developed by Ministry of Coal to enable the Ministry to track the imports of coal.
The Annual Contracted Quantity  of power plants has been increased upto 100% of the normative requirement, in the cases where the ACQ was reduced to 90% of normative requirement  or where the ACQ was reduced to 70% of normative requirement . The increase in ACQ would ensure supply of more domestic coal to the power plants.
In addition to the above, some other measures like Introduction of Facility of Usance LC  payment mechanism to help the consumer avail credit facility from bank and Special Spot auction scheme for coal importers including the traders, have been introduced to help curtail the imports of coal.
This information was given by the Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pralhad Joshi in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Defence
Successful Flight Test of ABHYAS
Successful flight test of ABHYAS - High-speed Expendable Aerial Target  was today conducted by Defence Research and Development Organisation  from the Interim Test Range, Balasore in Odisha. During the trials, two demonstrator vehicles were successfully test flown. The vehicle can be used as target for evaluation of various missile systems.
Abhyas is designed & developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment , DRDO. The air vehicle is launched using twin underslung booster. It is powered by a small gas turbine engine and has MEMS based Inertial Navigation System  for navigation along with the Flight Control Computer  for guidance and control. The vehicle is programmed for fully autonomous flight. The check out of air vehicle is done using laptop based Ground Control Station .
During the test campaign, the user requirement of 5 km flying altitude, vehicle speed of 0.5 mach, endurance of 30 minutes and 2g turn capability of the test vehicle were successfully achieved.
ABB/Nampi/Rajib
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Ministry of Science & Technology
Effective defense strategy deployed by a resistant tomato cultivar against Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus unravelled by scientists of National Institute of Plant Genome Research
Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus  infection causes severe losses in tomato yield worldwide. Lack of information on resistance  genes against ToLCNDV has considerably retarded the pace of crop improvement against this rapidly spreading pathogen. Several attempts have been made to identify antiviral genes against ToLCNDV and related viruses. Scientists from DBT Autonomous Institution, National Institute of Plant Genomics Research  report an effective defense strategy deployed by a resistant tomato cultivar against ToLCNDV. It employs Sw5a  that recognizes AC4 protein  of ToLCNDV to restrict virus spread. At the transcriptional level, the sly-miR159-SlMyb33 module has been identified as governing gene expression of Sw5a. Thus, the investigators have provided a mechanistic insight into slymiR159-SlMyb33–controlled Sw5a-mediated defense response in tomato against ToLCNDV. These findings could be translated into development of resistance in susceptible cultivars of tomato through modern breeding or molecular approaches. This work was published in Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences  e2101833118; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2101833118)
Figure legend: Schematic representation of sly-miR159-SlMyb33 complex in providing resistance against ToLCNDV. In the resistant cultivar H-88-78-1, sly-miR159 gets down-regulated upon virus infection , therefore restricting the degradation of SlMyb33 mRNA and causing increased expression of SlMyb33 . SlMyb33 further binds onto the promoter region of SlSw5a and induces the expression . Moreover, SlSw5a interacts with virus protein AC4  and triggers Hypersensitive  response in the ToLCNDV infiltrated regions and limits the spread of virus . On the contrary in the susceptible cultivar Punjab Chhuhara, up-regulation of sly-miR159  inhibits the expression of SlMyb33 . This leads to virus infection in the plant .
Dr.RenuSwarup, Secretary DBT congratulated Dr. Manoj Prasad and his team for this important piece of work which can be applied to improve the yield of tomato crop. Dr.Swarup also commented that the Department of Biotechnology has taken several initiatives in Agriculture Biotechnology in line with the Hon’ble Prime Ministers vision of doubling of farmers’ income by year 2022.
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SNC/TM/RR
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Ministry of Defence
Investiture Ceremony 2022 Conducted at Navy Children School, New Delhi
Navy Children School, New Delhi conducted Investiture Ceremony for Academic Year 2022-23 for Senior Wing on 12 September 2022. Vice Admiral Suraj Berry, Controller Personnel Services, IHQ MoD  attended the function as Chief Guest. The function was also attended by Cmde AA Abhyankar, Commodore , Cmde Sanjay Nirmal, Commodore  II, Cmde Satish Shenai, NM Commanding Officer INS India, PTA members and parents of the appointees.
36 students from Class XI & XII donned the leadership roles after undergoing rigorous selection process. The students were presented with appointment sashes by the Chief Guest on this occasion. Master Samrat Vashisht and Miss Tamanna Sharma of Class XII were appointed as Head Boy and Head Girl, and Master Advait Pisolkar and Miss Kritika Saxena of Class XI as the Deputy Head Boy and Deputy Head Girl.
In his address to the students, the Chief Guest complimented the efforts of the previous appointees and exhorted the new incumbents to carry out their duties with pride, dedication and integrity while striving for excellence in all endeavours. He also urged them to work with passion while having a vision for better school, society and the country at large. The Chief Guest complimented the role of teachers in imparting quality education to the students and stressed upon the need for grooming the students for future leadership roles. Later, the Chief Guest also interacted with appointees and teachers over tea.